Name: ________________________________________________ Chapter 22 Work Packet Section 1: The Nation’s Sick Economy Important Terms and Names Price Support Credit Alfred E. Smith Dow Jones Industrial Average Speculation Buying on Margin Black Tuesday Great Depression Hawley-­‐Smoot Tariff Act As you read through the section, take notes to describe the serious problems in each area of the economy that helped cause the Great Depression. 1. Industry 2. Agriculture 1 3. Consumer Spending 4. Distribution of Wealth 5. Stock Market Complete the chart below by detailing how each adversely affected the nation’s economy. Decline in # of homes built More Americans living on credit Uneven distribution of wealth Stock Market Crash of 1929 Widespread Bank Closings Worldwide Depression Hawley-­‐Smoot Tariff 2 PRIMARY SOURCE
The Stock Market Crash
New York Times reporter Elliott V. Bell witnessed firsthand the panic and despair that ensued after the stock market crashed on
October 24, 1929. As you read his account, think about the chain of events that followed the crash. T
he market opened steady with prices little
changed from the previous day, though
some rather large blocks, of 20,000 to
25,000 shares, came out at the start. It sagged
easily for the first half hour, and then around
eleven o’clock the deluge broke.
It came with a speed and ferocity that left men
dazed. The bottom simply fell out of the market.
From all over the country a torrent of selling
orders poured onto the floor of the Stock
Exchange and there were no buying orders to
meet it. Quotations of representative active
issues, like Steel, Telephone, and Anaconda,
began to fall two, three, five, and even ten points
between sales. Less active stocks became
unmarketable. Within a few moments the ticker
service was hopelessly swamped and from then
on no one knew what was really happening. By
1:30 the ticker tape was nearly two hours late; by
2:30 it was 147 minutes late. The last quotation
was not printed on the tape until 7:081⁄2 P.M.,
four hours, eight and one-half minutes after the
close. In the meantime, Wall Street had lived
through an incredible nightmare.
In the strange way that news of a disaster spreads,
the word of the market collapse flashed through
the city. By noon great crowds had gathered at
the corner of Broad and Wall streets where the
Stock Exchange on one corner faces Morgan’s
[the headquarters of J. P. Morgan] across the way.
On the steps of the Sub- Treasury Building,
opposite Morgan’s, a crowd of press
photographers and newsreel men took up their
stand. Traffic was pushed from the streets of the
financial district by the crush. . . .
The animal roar that rises from the floor of the
Stock Exchange and which on active days is
plainly audible in the Street outside, became
louder, anguished, terrifying. The streets were
crammed with a mixed crowd—agonized little
speculators, walking aimlessly outdoors because
they feared to face the ticker and the margin
clerk; sold-out traders, morbidly impelled to visit
the scene of their ruin; inquisitive individuals and
tourists, seeking by gazing at the exteriors of the
Exchange and the big banks to get a closer view
of the national catastrophe; runners, frantically
pushing their way through the throng of idle and
curious in their effort to make deliveries of the
unprecedented volume of securities which was
being traded on the floor of the Exchange. The
ticker, hopelessly swamped, fell hours behind
the actual trading and became completely
meaning- less. Far into the night, and often all
night long, the lights blazed in the windows of the
tall office buildings where margin clerks and
bookkeepers struggled with the desperate task of
trying to clear one day’s business before the next
began. They fainted at their desks; the weary
runners fell exhausted on the marble floors of
banks and slept. But within a few months they
were to have ample time to rest up. By then
thousands of them had been fired.
Agonizing scenes were enacted in the customers’
rooms of the various brokers. There traders who a
few short days before had luxuriated in delusions
of wealth saw all their hopes smashed in a
collapse so devastating, so far beyond their
wildest fears, as to seem unreal. Seeking to save a
little from the wreck- age, they would order their
stocks sold “at the market,” in many cases to
discover that they had not merely lost everything
but were, in addition, in debt to the broker. And
then, ironic twist, as like as not the next few
hours’ wild churning of the market would lift
prices to levels where they might have sold out
and had a substantial cash balance left over.
Every move was wrong, in those days. The
market seemed like an insensate thing that was
wreaking a wild and pitiless revenge upon those
who had thought to master it.
3 Political Cartoon This Pulitzer Prize-­‐winning cartoon by John T. McCutchen was published in the Chicago Tribune in 1931. Study the cartoon to answer the questions below. “The Wise Economist Asks a Question” Questions In the cartoon, who is the “Wise Economist?” 4 Understanding how the Great Depression affected people lives, write a pretend diary entry from the point of view of the man in this cartoon. Monday, March 9, 1931 Today started out by __________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Chapter 22 Section 2: The Hardship and Suffering During the Depression Important Terms and Names Shantytown Soup Kitchen Bread Line Dust Bowl Direct Relief As you read about how people coped with hard times, use the chart below to summarize the Great Depression’s effects on various aspects of American life. 1. Employment 2. Housing 3. Farming 4. Race Relations 5. Family Life 6 6. Physical Health 7. Emotional Health The following questions deal with the daily suffering during the Great Depression. 1. What advantage did people in rural areas have over city-­‐dwellers during the depression? 2. Why were conditions for African Americans and Latinos especially difficult during the Depression? 3. What factors helped to cause the Dust Bowl? 4. How did the Depression affect the country’s children? 5. Why did working women meet with such resentment during the Depression? 6. What social and psychological impact did the Depression have on Americans? 7 GEOGRAPHY APPLICATION: MOVEMENT
The Great Depression Takes Its Toll
Directions: Read the paragraphs below and study the map carefully. Then answer the questions that follow.
T
he effects of the Great Depression were
heart- breaking. In 1932, for example, not
a single person was employed in 28
percent of the families in the United States.
Widespread unemployment contributed greatly to
the steep 40 percent fall in average family income
in the four years 1929–1933. In 1933 nearly 13
million workers, about 25 per- cent of the U.S.
total, had no jobs.
Rates of unemployment, though, were far from
uniform across the country. Some states—with
industries such as radio and airplane production—
were relatively well off, so that at one point, in
1934, there was a 33 percent difference between
the highest and lowest state unemployment rates.
This disparity in unemployment rates started
people moving all over the country. At the beginning, many unemployed city dwellers moved to
the countryside, hoping that farms were better off
economically than cities. But soon agriculture
suffered just as much as other businesses,
especially during the Dust Bowl drought that
began in 1933. Tens of thousands of families in
the hardest-hit states— North Dakota, South
Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma,
and Texas—put everything they owned into cars
and trucks and left home. (By 1936, some areas
were ghostlike, with more than half of the houses
abandoned.) By the end of the decade, all of the
hardest-hit states except for Colorado and Texas
had experienced population declines, even though
the U.S. population grew by 9 million people
during the decade.
8 Questions 1. What 4 states ad the highest unemployment rate in 1934? 2. Which region of the country (east or west of the Mississippi River) was better off in 1934? Use statistics to support your answer) 3. What was the first destination of most people leaving the southern part of the Dust Bowl? 4. What does the migration northward from Los Angles imply? 9 PRIMARY SOURCE
Letter from a Dust Bowl Survivor
The following letter was written by a survivor of the Dust Bowl in McCracken,Kansas.
March 24, 1935
Dear Family,
Did some of you think that you had a dust storm? I’ll tell you what it was. It was us shaking our
bedding, carpets, etc. For over a week we have been having troublesome times. The dust is something
fierce. Sometimes it lets up enough so we can see around; even the sun may shine for a little time, then
we have a frenzied time of cleaning, anticipating the comfort of a clean feeling once more.
We keep the doors and windows all shut tight, with wet papers on the sills. The tiny particles of dirt sift
right through the walls. Two different times it has been an inch thick on my kitchen floor. Our faces
look like coal miners’, our hair is gray and stiff with dirt and we grind dirt in our teeth. We have to wash
everything just before we eat it and make it as snappy as possible. Sometimes there is a fog all through
the house and all we can do about it is sit on our dusty chairs and see that fog settle slowly and silently
over everything.
When we open the door, swirling whirlwinds of soil beat against us unmercifully, and we are glad to go
back inside and sit choking in the dirt. We couldn’t see the streetlight just in front of the house. One
morning, early, I went out during a lull, and when I started to return I couldn’t see the house. I knew the
direction, so I kept on coming, and was quite close before I could even see the outline. It sure made me
feel funny.
There has not been much school this week. It let up a little yesterday and Fred went with the janitor and
they carried dirt out of the church by the scoopful. Four of them worked all afternoon. We were able to
have church this morning, but I think many stayed home to clean.
A lot of dirt is blowing now, but it’s not dangerous to be out in it. This dirt is all loose, any little wind
will stir it, and there will be no relief until we get rain. If it doesn’t come soon there will be lots of
suffering. If we spit or blow our noses we get mud. We have quite a little trouble with our chests. I
understand a good many have pneumonia.
As for gardens, we had ours plowed, but now we do not know whether we have more or less soil. It’s
useless to plant anything.
Grace Questions 1. According to Grace’s letter, what problems did people living in the Dust Bowl encounter? 2. How would you describe Grace’s attitude about the dust? 3. What qualities or traits do you think helped Grace and her family survive the difficulties that they faced? 10 BREADLINE
CREDIT
FARMING
STOCKMARKET
DEPRESSION DIRECTRELIEF
MARGIN
SHANTYTOWN
TARIFF
UNEMPLOYMENT
DOWJONES
SOUPKITCHEN
DUSTBOWL
SPECULATION
11 Chapter 22 Section 3: Hoover Struggles with the Depression Important Terms and Names Herbert Hoover Boulder Damn Federal Home Loan Bank Reconstruction Finance Corporation Bonus Army As you read about President Hoover’s response to the Great Depression, write notes in the appropriate boxes to answer the questions. Philosophy 1. What was Hoover’s philosophy of government? Response and Economic Results 2. What was Hoover’s initial reaction to the stock market crash in 1929? 3. a. What was the nation’s economic situation in 1929? b. How did voters in 1930 respond to the situation? 12 4. a. What did Hoover do about the economic situation? b. How did the economy respond to his efforts? 5. a. How did Hoover deal with the economic problem posed by the Bonus Army? b. How did his efforts affect his own political situation? Explain the purpose of the reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) and state whether or not you think it succeeded in achieving that goal. 13 PRIMARY SOURCE
Attack on the Bonus Army
The government planned to pay World War I veterans bonuses in 1945; however, in 1932 tens of thousands of veterans and their
families descended on Washington to demand immediate payment. President Hoover eventually ordered the U.S. Army to drive the
Bonus Army from the capital. WASHINGTON, July 29—The bonus army was
retreating today—in all directions. . . .
The fight had begun, as far as the Regular Army
was concerned, late yesterday afternoon. The
troops had been called out after a veteran of the
Bonus Army had been shot and killed by a
Washington policeman during a skirmish to drive
members of the Bonus Army out of a vacant
house on Pennsylvania Avenue, two blocks from
the Capitol.
The soldiers numbered between seven hundred
and eight hundred men. There was a squadron of
the Third Cavalry from Fort Myer, a battalion of
the Twelfth Infantry from Fort Washington, and a
platoon of tanks (five) from Fort Meade. Most of
the police in Washington seemed to be trailing
after the soldiers, and traffic was tied up in 115
knots.
The cavalry clattered down Pennsylvania Avenue
with drawn sabers.
The infantry came marching along with fixed
bayonets.
All Washington smelled a fight, and all
Washington turned out to see it.
Streets were jammed with automobiles.
Sidewalks, windows, doorsteps were crowded
with people trying to see what was happening.
“Yellow! Yellow!”
From around the ramshackle shelters which they
had built on a vacant lot fronting on Pennsylvania
Avenue, just above the Capitol, the bedraggled
veterans jeered. . .
The cavalrymen stretched out in extended order
and rode spectators back on the sidewalks. The
infantry started across the lot, bayonets fixed.
Veterans in the rear ranks of a mob that faced the
infantry pushed forward. Those in front pushed
back. The crowd stuck. An order went down the
line of infantrymen. The soldiers stepped back,
pulled tear-gas bombs from their belts, and hurled
them into the midst of the mob.
Some of the veterans grabbed the bombs and
threw them back at the infantry. The exploding
tins whizzed around the smooth asphalt like devil
chasers, pfutt-pfutt-pfutt. And a gentle southerly
wind wafted the gas in the faces of the soldiers
and the spectators across the street.
Cavalrymen and infantrymen jerked gas masks
out of their haversacks. The spectators, blinded
and choking with the unexpected gas attack,
broke and fled. Movie photographers who had
parked their sound trucks so as to catch a
panorama of the skirmish ground away doggedly,
tears streaming down their faces.
The police tied handkerchiefs around their faces.
“Ya-a-a-ah!” jeered the veterans.
But more gas bombs fell behind them. The veterans were caught in the back draft. They began
to retreat. But before they quit their shacks they
set them on fire. The dry wood and rubbish from
which the huts were fashioned burned quickly.
The flames shot high. Clouds of dirty brown
smoke blanketed the avenue.
Questions 1. According to McCardell, what sparked the fight between Bonus Army veterans and the soldiers? 2. How did the soldiers drive the veterans from the capital? 14 15